Banks exposed

August 2006, Issue
392

Asking people about how they make their money is simply not the done thing. Unsurprisingly, bankers nurture this custom. No questions asked means no dirt exposed. That’s why those squeaky-clean Swiss bankers – portrayed as the epitome of banking etiquette because of their ‘discretion’ – have been able to hide the proceeds of theft by Nazi criminals or corrupt officials in Africa for decades. Under this shroud, bankers everywhere have quietly furthered their monopoly in the business of money making, setting up tax-avoidance schemes and shifting capital in quantities beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Few discover how. It’s all too complex.
Or is it? This month, the *NI* explains in straightforward language how banks make money.